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Elite’s new Direto trainer–Hands on!

Today Elite announced their newest trainer for the 2017-2018 winter trainer season – the Direto. This direct drive controllable trainer is notable partly for its price ($899), but also partly because it’s sporting easily the highest accuracy rating of any sub-$1,000 controllable trainer: +/- 2.5%. In doing so, Elite is basically throwing down the hammer on their competitors. Not just from a price standpoint, but also a specifications standpoint as you’ll see.

I’ve got an initial manufacturing run test unit that I was able to get some riding in on. Note that it’s not a final unit, as that’ll come later this month as they spin up the production lines after validating things over the next week or two. Still, it’s definitely an interesting look at what may be one of the most competitive trainers this year.

First up though – if you want everything from trainer sound levels to first ride testing all in one video, here ya go:

With that out of the way – onwards into the tech weeds we go.

The Tech Specs:

So I started hinting at the tech specs above, but I think it’s best just to bulletize them into one big pile of spec awesomeness. Then I’ll walk through what some of the key ones mean. Here we go:

Phew, so there ya have it – everything in one go. Let me dive into the pieces I think are most important though:

Accuracy: Without question, this is what’s selling this trainer. A stated accuracy claim of +/- 2.5% is pretty significant. It basically makes it on par with most power meters that sit at +/- 2% these days. Elite is able to pull this off by integrating a power meter into the Direto unit itself. Elite calls that the OTS – Optical Torque Sensor. This is similar to the OTS system that’s in their higher end Kura and Drivo sensors last year, except those sensors are now known called OTS Plus. As you may remember from my in-depth review, the Drivo accuracy is stunning, and even more than that is the stability of the wattage control. Don’t worry, we’ll talk initial accuracy results in a bit. For background, the vast majority of trainers below $1,000 are wheel-on (not direct drive), and within that almost all of them have +/- 5%, and sometimes that +/- 5% claim is a bit iffy.

Max Incline & Wattage: Most sub-$1,000 trainers have a max incline of about 8-10%. We saw a few last year like the CycleOps Magnus go higher than that, but it was still wheel-on. With the Direto – it comes in at a solid 14%. Of course, this stat mainly matters in these Zwift days, but also as people leverage apps like Kinomap to re-ride steep climbs like Alpe d’Huez. I don’t think the 1,400w piece matters as much here to be honest, since the majority of riders can’t get near that number (for example, I top out at ~1,000w). However, where it is useful is for riders who might want a trainer that can handle over 1,000w and know that for structured interval work (e.g. 30×30’s) it’ll still be solid and not struggle to maintain power.

Dual & New Protocols: Sure, the unit transmits and works across both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart – as any saleable trainer does these days. That includes ANT+ FE-C for trainer control to many apps, as well as custom Bluetooth Smart control used by many apps as well. Plus just standard transmission of power/speed/cadence over ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart. But there’s a new and hidden little feature here: Support for the new Bluetooth Smart trainer control standard (officially called the Fitness Machine Profile/Service). Elite’s the first company to adopt it on the trainer front. From an apps standpoint, TrainerRoad has confirmed they’ll soon support the new standard, as has Zwift, Kinomap and The Sufferfest.

Price: Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the price is a big deal. It matches that of the Tacx Flux, which has a stated accuracy range of +/- 5% instead. The Flux is also limited to a 10% grade (vs 14% for Direto). But let me dive into that all a bit later in this post.

Ok, with those big ticket items out of the way, let me backup a bit for those that may not be as familiar with these trainers to offer some quick background on how it works from start to finish.

First up is that folding aspect. The unit can be folded up for easy storage. Given it weighs a fair bit less than some of the higher end trainers, this makes movement all that much easier.

The two legs lock in place using these little thumb screw type things, so it won’t go anywhere. You can also adjust the height of the legs, should you have wonky flooring.

Next, you’ll need to plug it in to get the controllable aspects to work. It will provide a low amount of resistance without power, but it won’t be controllable without it.

Once plugged in you’ll get the status indicators to light-up. This includes power, ANT+, and Bluetooth Smart. When a connection is maintained over those channels, that indicator will illuminate:

The direct drive nature means that your rear wheel is removed when you place it on the trainer. This is generally considered a good thing as it eliminates any slippage and in most cases is quieter – since you’ve removed the sound of the tire on the trainer.

Now because it’s a direct drive trainer, you will need to install your own cassette on it. The unit accepts 9/10/11 speed cassettes. A cassette will typically set you back about $50 for a Shimano Ultegra one (just an example), and then another $15-$25 for the tools if you don’t have those. Not a huge deal, and it only takes 3-4 minutes to install. But just something to be aware of:

With everything all set you’ll start by pairing it to an app to control the trainer. Elite includes a 12-month subscription to their platform, or you can use any of more than two dozen apps (see my huge app guide for that). These include apps like Zwift, TrainerRoad, The SufferFest, Kinomap, and many more. It can do this over ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart. Here it is pairing on an iPad via Bluetooth Smart:

And then here I am pairing it with a Garmin Edge device via ANT+ FE-C (so I could re-ride given routes straight from the Garmin):

So basically, it has everything you’d need from a control or transmission standpoint, and does so concurrently. So you could mount your Garmin to your handlebars and get your power data transmitted to it at the same time you ride using Zwift and Bluetooth Smart.

With all that goodness out of the way, you’re ready to jump on and ride. Given it’s a controllable trainer, it’ll automatically adjust the resistance to match what your app is dictating. This means for apps like Zwift or Kinomap it’ll adjust the incline appropriately to the scenery – such as 7% incline. And for ERG apps like TrainerRoad (or Zwift Workout mode), it’ll adjust the wattage to the defined levels – such as 315w. That’s really the beauty of such a device – you just need to pedal. Of course ‘just need to pedal’, can certainly be a challenge in a tough workout session.

So what about road feel? I talk about this in the video – as it’s something that you can get two people side by side on two different trainers and then swap and they’ll both give differing opinions. Still, I’d say this is good – but not in the same category of the $1,200 trainers (i.e. KICKR, etc…). But it felt a bit better than the Flux while in Zwift in terms of responsiveness and feel. Again, it’s a hard thing to really judge, even when swapping trainers back and forth.

As for noise? Well you can check that out in the video too. It rates about average to slightly quieter for a trainer (when I tested at 20MPH, which is what I usually test at). Still, since it’s ERG driven in ERG mode you can reduce speed (without impacting power) and get very quiet (also shown in video). And I’d say there’s less of a grinding sound than there is on the Tacx Flux, so it ‘sounds’ better in that respect.

Now that I’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into an initial ride data.

Initial Ride Data:

The trainer arrived at just the last minute on Friday, before I had to take off (literally) for the Tour de France. So my time is limited with it. And that’s OK. Elite doesn’t want this unit to be considered for a full in-depth review, since it’s not 100% a final production unit. While very close, it’s technically considered a test production run. If everything looks good from this manufacturing run set, then they’ll commence full-scale production in a few weeks. At that time they’ll shoot me another unit to evaluate more fully and deeply for a complete review.

Still…I can’t help myself. I’ve gotta at least see what things look like accuracy-wise, right?

For that I loaded up my bike, which is equipped with its usual power meter pile of goodness. Since it’s a direct drive trainer I had to remove the wheel (which contains a PowerTap hub). That left on the bike a PowerTap P1, Power2Max NG, and then a Stages left-only unit. For the purposes of this test I focused on comparing it to the Power2Max NG and PowerTap P1 (for a total of three units).

My test would be simple – just wander around Zwift for a while, but with some solid sprints in there. Also, I’d test out both high and low-cadence and a variety of different gears. Basically, a complete blend of stuff. I paired to the Zwift app via Bluetooth Smart, which I ran on an iPad.

(Wondering why I stopped at the 14-minute marker? Well, funny story. In order to shoot the video in the tight spaces of the cave I run out of lens width, as well as outlets. I had stretched the Direto power cord to its absolute length limit. See that sprint? Well I rocked the cord just enough to pull it out of the wall. Took me a few moments to figure out what the heck happened. Next time I’ll scoot back a few millimeters.)

As you can see, the unit handled really well from an accuracy standpoint in terms of matching the others (shown here smoothed at 3-seconds). For example, look at this sprint below:

You can see it quickly tracks the power shift with virtually no delay at all. Very solid. Some slight differences at the top between the units in terms of both ordering and exact maxes, but that’s normal for sprints between multiple power meters. Timing and such plays a part into that.

If we look at more random points along the way, you’ll see it’s very close – only thee watts on 208w. Of course, you can get a bit into the drivetrain loss argument here too. But I think these graphs show it tracks incredibly close – which is great. I’ll certainly be diving into more data on final units.

So for a first ride – so far so good!

The only minor beta bug is that I was unable to connect over Bluetooth Smart from the TrainerRoad iPad app to the unit. Well, I was able to connect, just not control it. I had no issues with TrainerRoad and ANT+ FE-C. My guess is just a minor compatibility thing. In talking with TrainerRoad, they say they’ll dive into it and resolve it quickly. Historically speaking, that means like a few hours. ;)

Of course – again, it’s not final and thus things could change. Perfect accuracy like above could go to crap. Though, usually that doesn’t happen. But still – I just want to point out that this isn’t a full review, but just a first look.

Product Comparison:

I’ve added the Direto to the product comparison tool, which allows you to compare it against virtually any other trainer on the market (or at least, all the ones I’ve tried out). For below I’ve compared it against the Elite Drivo (that’s their higher end model), as well as the Tacx Flux (same price), and for random comparison the Tacx Neo. Of course, you can make your own comparison charts here to mix and match your own trainers.

Impact to the market:

So what’s this all mean going forward? Well the most obvious thing to me is that this is the trainer to beat for 2017. While traditionally new trainer announcements extend into the Eurobike/Interbike time period (last week of August/middle of September), I don’t think we’ll see much in the way to compete with this.

Last year we saw Tacx throw out the daggers with the Flux. That got off to a rough start though with both delays and then manufacturing QC issues. These days all is well of course, and it’s a solid performer. The question is whether Elite can avoid that same fate. My hunch says yes. Partly because Elite historically has a better track record of doing so, and also because Elite is over 2 months earlier already than Tacx was. Elite’s planning on starting shipping in merely a few weeks, compared to Tacx had planned to initially ship in October last year.

Of course, we could still see something new from Wahoo, or perhaps Kinetic if they’re willing to join the rest of the world on dual ANT+/BLE. I don’t expect anything new from CycleOps, since they had a pretty strong new-products year last season and really only caught-up this winter with demand. Which roughly looks like Tacx too.

As noted earlier though – expect a full in-depth review of the Elite Direto in early-mid August, assuming I get a final production Direto in late July. And then as usual expect my Annual Trainer Recommendations Guide in the fall, after Interbike and Eurobike. I suspect it could be out far sooner this season than years past, given the timelines of companies involved. But even those best laid plans often get slighted by someone.

With that – thanks for reading!

P.S: Also check out initial thoughts from Titanium Geek and GPLama, both of which do good work in this space.

P.P.S: You can pre-order the Direto now from Clever Training. In doing so you help support the site, plus you’ll save 10% using DCR coupon code DCR10BTF and free US shipping. For European folks, Clever Training is looking to have the CT Europe listings up shortly, which also qualifies for the coupon code and free shipping.

After having to carry a Tacx Neo about a mile at Eurobike two years back, I’d say this ranks more favorably in that specific evaluation criterion. Though, my memory of that incident may be tainted from when we had to get it over the top of a 8ft high fence.

Another great update DCR! But briefly, what are the major features that the Direto gives up for a decrease in price versus the Drivo? Was thinking of getting the Drivo this week, then suddenly this one appears. :) More power, sir!

Ray i know it’s very subjective but maybe one of the most important things it’s also the ‘road feel’ that you explain well in the video. I mean, for me and i think for the 98% of cyclists here, is more important than the ‘limit’ of only 1400watts.

Generally speaking it’s tied more closely to speed. Typically the faster a trainer goes the higher wattage it can resist from a motor standpoint. Whereas at slow speeds such as 6-8MPH, it becomes much more difficult for trainers. Of course, that’s usually the speeds for steeper inclines.

For example, the Direto is rated at 1,400w at 40KPH. But it also carries a rating of 2,200w…albeit at 60KPH. But I standardize everything here on the 40KPH ratings (as do almost all companies).

Nothing that I felt. It reacted quickly to me, as well as the terrain. I was doing Zwift Island, and my particular route didn’t have any super sharp climbs (such as some of the short sharp climb of Richmond). But I’ll be going in search of that tomorrow.

Similarly, it would be interesting to know how responsive it is to big wattage jumps in ERG mode, say going from 150w to 350w, compared to other trainers like the kickr. How long does it take to make the adjustment?

Just making sure I have this right, my road bike only has a powertap, but this one has pretty solid power accuracy, so I could use this without an on the bike power meter and get enough accuracy to make erg training worth it without have a separate power meter elsewhere on the bike? Really excited about this, intervals are not easy to accomplish where I live, so this would be a huge benefit for me.

As noted above – I expect this to be a fairly quiet year for trainers. I expect things from companies more inline with what Tacx did last year with the Neo – tiny mods for frame/manufacturing compatibility, which then results in a new SKU, but basically the same.

I am interested though in trying out the new Jetblack trainer coming. Been chatting with them, I think they were saying late July last I talked.

No, unfortunately not. I just don’t have the space for it here. And while I could certainly travel to Tacx and do something over the course of a few days in their facilities, I think for me I like to tinker with things on my own time and generally just figure it out from start to finish over a longer period of time.

You know, one of these times, your write-up on these trainers is going to lighten my wallet. I’ve been using Zwift with a dumb trainer for a few months now, and the resistance control aspect just gets more and more appealing. The one trainer that I keep watching is the the Stac Zero. Any word where they are on the resistance control features?

And here I was just about to buy a Kickr. One question – will this trainer work with Zwift when using a power meter on the bike? I’d like to use my Quarq to measure the power for consistency when outdoors.

One thing that, for me at least, would be really useful is the watts at 30kph. This is approximately the max speed of a wheel in a 52/11 gear at 50rpm. I have a few workouts where the aim is to improve force and climbing that require really low cadence with high power. My current KK dumb trainer doesn’t quite produce enough resistance which is one of the reasons I’m looking at upgrading. Plus it kind of rounds out the operating range I guess?!

I’d be interested in knowing if there is a “resistance floor” of the trainer also. I have a Tacx Flux, and use it with TrainerRoad, and I find that when there are large variations in the power of the intervals, e.g. 380W on / 100W off, I have to change gears to hit my power targets.

Ciao Rune, We are not sure about what you mean with “resistance floor”. Based on the type of training you’re doing, you have to maintain the same gear or change it based on the power created by the trainer. Anyway we’d be happy to answer you in a more detailed way if you dropped an email at info@elite-it.com.

Direto, as much as many other interactive trainers, has got a minimum and a maximum threshold of simulated power. In some specific situations, in order to reach given power values, it is necessary to modify cadence and potentially the bike gears.

Was working up the nerve to replace my ‘dumb’ trainer, this post created the new anxiety of actually placing an order (using the the link of course) before Ray actually reviews… I comfort myself with the idea I can cancel, this unit sounds tailor made for my use case which will involve regular relocation of the unit. Looking forward to that review Ray!

We’ve developed Direto by considering the main cases of incompatibilities that we had with the previous models. Due to a protuding shape that Fux has, sometimes some derailleurs touch the Flux. This protuding profile is not present on the Direto. We’re still testing all the derailleurs but so far everything is ok!

Surely the rear derailleur doesn’t touch the case of the fan highlighted on your previous email because it stays forward from this shape.

Still a ways off, but last year I recall a big 20% sale on trainers around the holidays. I THINK it was through Clever Training (Maybe REI?). Think this will be included? I believe the Flux was included last year.

Also, am I right in thinking that really the only difference between this and the KICKR2 as the max watts? Accuracy seems as near as damn it the same. Thinking this one will be cheaper and won’t have that horrible whining noise :-)

Hi, I have a Standard Question about trainers. What about the frames of the bikes? The trainers can handle up 2000W or more but what about the Frames of the bikes?? Sitting maybe would be no problem but If I go out of saddle??

Thanks for the reply. Have you tried pairing with your own power meter to make it work together with the trainer (i.e. In ERG mode)? I wanted to have consistency throughout outdoor and indoor training.

I haven’t. Mostly because I’m more interested in how accurate it is from a straight-up standpoint. The whole ERG matching thing is really to resolve inaccuracies in trainers. If a trainer is so accurate that the numbers match anyway, then it becomes a non-issue (as seems to be the case with the Direto).

As speed increases the amount of resistance it can apply also increases so they’re just giving examples of what the max resistance is at two different points. It largely depends on your gearing and cadence if you can get the rear wheel (virtual wheel really) up to the 60km/h hence why most manufacturers specify the max at around 40km/h.

Great, placed an order on Kickr Snap last night… Just went to Clevertraining to cancel an order and get Direto ….just to find out Snap was already shipped. Oh well, as soon as Clevertraining will get Direto in stock, snap will go back. Why didn’t I see that earlier..

Ignoring the road feel, yes, for the vast majority of riders I’d say Direto is a better option. The exceptions might be those that want a bit more incline/wattage – but that’s like a 1% or less sort of thing (for example, I’d not be applicable to either of those categories).

The road feel is similar, and I’d agree with Shane there on the ranking.

There’s a little bit of slowness in ERG mode in large power shifts, but honestly nothing too far out of the norm. It’s really only an issue if you’re doing something like 10s repeats and the power gap is big (i.e. 125w up to 600w and back).

I ve asked shane about road feel in the comments section of his youtube video. He gave a 9 to the lemond revolution a 7 to direto and something between 6.5 and 7 to the neo. But what surprises me was that shane think that direto is even better than the drivo.

I know that road feel is maybe the most subjective thing to talk about…and that Ray sensations about it are different from shane sensations but it really seem that this trainer is a best buy for the following season.

The first cargo container of units was sent to the US the last week of July, which takes about 4 weeks to arrive. Expected retail availability in the US is first week of September. At the same time, European availability is also expected the same week, since those don’t have to go anywhere (the factory was on break during much of August).

Yeah, the whole CT UK thing for Direto is an ongoing saga. Trust us (both me and Clever Training), we’re as annoyed as anyone else that the distributor there is taking their sweet time getting listing info.

On the bright side, there are units in queue for them for CT UK – so there shouldn’t be a delay once listings show up (since Europe deliveries are expected first week of September). In theory…

Curious how the 14% slope pans out in practice. Taxc has graphs which show the slope the trainer can accomplish under a given speed/wattage and riders weight. For instance (and if I recall correctly) for the Vortex this shows that its max 7% can in reality only be reached by 65kg riders on 7kg bikes… Curious how this works for the Dorito and if you need to weigh 50kg to get the 14% sensation. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Hi Paul, as stated by DC, Diretos are being dispatched in these days. According to us, they should be sold from the beginning of September. What we can suggest you is to contact our distributor of your own nation and ask where and when Direto can be purchased. They will give you a more comprehensive answer. Here’s the link: link to elite-it.com

Hi – still nothing on CT, and I saw somewhere that the date’s moved back to end September for UK shipping now? So no rush for CT, other than pre-orders – but does it make sense to hold off pre-ordering until we see what else comes out, like the new Kickr Climb? …

Prelim thoughts on the production unit (I have 1.5 rides left I want to complete) are that it’s just as solid as I saw on the preprod unit. Gold.

It’s not quite the same feel as the Drivo, but I think most people will be very happy with it, especially given the price.

My general suggestion at this point is if you think you might want a Direto – put your pre-order in now, and then wait and see if anything interesting happens next week at Eurobike (less than a week away). Your Direto won’t arrive by then anyway, so you can always cancel if you find something more interesting next week.

Assuming I don’t drown in writing and shooting other posts by next Wednesday, you’ll likely see the Direto review out next Wednesday or Thursday.

Thanks again for all your work in keeping us up-to-date in what’s new in the cycling/fitness tech industry.

I am debating between this (Direto) and the new Kicker(Kicker 3). The main sticking points for me with this are obviously cost, but also the pedal stroke analysis with the Elite E-My training app. Do you have any review on that? Sorry, if I missed it somewhere.

Hi, I would like to understand how the max power/max climbing simulation actually work, I mean, in the case of direto it’s claimed to have 1400w and 14% of climbing simulation at 40Km/h, this means that if I rode at 20km/h I can simulate 28% of climb? Is that correct? I ask because I would like to simulate climb over 14% to train for very intensive climb, but of course I never reach 1400w of max output power. thank you.

I’d strongly recommend clicking that buy button now to hold your spot, and then cancelling later if you find something in the review you don’t like.

I’m not saying that to try and get you to buy something, but because after this week in talking to Elite it’s clear just how ‘bad’ the backorder situation is/is going to be for Direto. Just my two cents.

Cheers for the update Ray. I’ve purchased the Direto from CT UK (thanks for the discount) They say it’s in stock so maybe I’ll get it before the review (maybe they got the first shipment). TBH reading around various other reviewers it has to be said it’s scoring highly from everyone, so I can’t imagine I’ll be disappointed ? I’ll still be looking forward to your review though.

It isn’t in stock, despite what the site says. They are working to troubleshoot why that is showing that – sorry about that. :(. Though, it won’t be long as I believe UK arrivals were planned for either late this upcoming week or the next.

Hi Ray, I’m also on the verge of buying a smart trainer. It’s a straight choice between this, the flux and the neo. There is an offer on at my lbs for the neo at £900 and the flux for £550. Can you advise how the direto compares with these turbos? I know it’s not in the top end price wise but I’m wondering if the direto has anything the neo doesn’t, especially as the neo is 2 years since launch. Also would you recommend it over the flux? Thanks

Received mine. Eltie App and instructions have room for improvement – to say the least. Nonetheless got it all working and paired etc with Zwift and seems to work just fine. Note on it. Thing that is annoying is a constant beeping sound (same sounds as when you switch it on). Sound first appeared to follow gradiënt or power but is even there after you stopped pedalling for a few seconds. Is this normal? I mean it is not a buzzing sound but really same beep as when you switch it on. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

You should hear the slight buzzing sound when you shift intensities, as it’s moving the magnetic doohicky inside. But once you spin your gears, that easily drowns that noise out. Is that not happening?

The trainer won’t need one anymore, so if you have your own power meter and your software/app supports power matching (controlling smart trainer while accepting power figures from a separate power meter), and this also eliminates the need to perform spin-down calibrations on trainers that normally need this.

The only trainers I have seen that have a built-in power matching function are the Wahoo KICKR and Wahoo KICKR SNAP–you can sync those trainers to a third party power meter that supports ANT+ (will not work with BTLE-only power meters, such as a BTLE-only PowerCal, but why would you want to use a PowerCal over the trainer’s build-in power sensor/calculator, anyway?), so even in apps that don’t have their own power matching, you can still power match to a separate power meter on a KICKR. This is programmed into the KICKR using the Wahoo Fitness app, where you program the ANT+ ID of the power meter to sync to into the trainer.

Ive been trying to get a refund on my pre order of the direto from CT for nearly a week now but it’s proving to be an extremely hard thing to do. They initially said fine in an email but fail to answer subsequent emails chasing the refund I gave in and rang them this morning the person I spoke to said all refunds are controlled through their head office in America and she couldn’t speak to them due to the time difference. She was supposed to find out what was going on and email me back but again it looks like that isn’t happening At this rate I won’t be spending the cash buying a Kickr from CT and will go elsewhere if this is what the customer service is like!

Let us know how you get on Paul – I’m considering cancelling as well, as I’m now on back order and the vibe of what I’m hearing is “late September” could be much later than that. I might spend a little extra and just get a Neo…or I might just hang fire and wait.

Well on the FB page Elite have advised they’re working overtime to try and meet the demand. I think they weren’t expecting this to be an instant success – they should have checked how many readers Ray has!!

I’ll check and see what’s up with lack of response. As others noted, that’s almost never an issue. Though perhaps as others noted the Labor Day weekend slowed things.

Fwiw – CT US shipped out first batch of units yesterday, and another batch slated to go out today too.

As also noted, Elite has been ramping up production even further in an attempt to meet demand, but realistically there’s still a crapton of demand. In any case, back to finishing up my in-depth review!

In checking with the CT folks, they don’t have any record of your first e-mail on Sept 1st. They’re sorting into why that might be.

They did get your e-mail from this morning, which was then confirmed on the UK side and escalated from UK to US for the refund, and that occurred a few minutes ago. You should have received an e-mail notification a few minutes ago I’m told.

Please clarify the point of the power cord supply. If I use a Direto without the power plug, it works = 0 ?? Or just loses the “real” capabilities? I mean if it would work as a Kura for example without the power supply.

What about other brands? I’ve read other reviews but still confused. Sometimes I use the trainer in places where there is no electricity.

Without power the Direto appears to level out at about 220w, using the biggest ring up front and smallest in back. You can surge to above 300w or so, but like most other trainers it’ll quickly within a few second settle lower.

So for most people doing a warm-up carside, it’ll probably work. My guess is I could get specs for using car battery converter like Wahoo provided for KICKR, from Elite.

There is someone in Facebook group who have problems with derailleur alignment when he install bike on Direto. Potentially could be a problem for people like myself who would often use bike indoors/outdoors. Ray, did you experienced any issues with derailleur alignment/shifting at all? Is it common for direct drive trainers?

I have read this article and comments so many times now as this might finally be the device that convinces me to buy a trainer. I really hope so. Was going to buy a Flux but its clearance (200mm) for mid cage derailleurs and ongoing issues (see FB group) have scared me away. Will wait for the final review and a few months to see if there are any teething issues. Thanks once again Ray for your hard work in this space

Hi Ray, Is there some problem with the Direto? I mean….when there is something,not necessary bad, but definetly something, you prefer to not speak at all, the last situation was with the edge 820 where there wasn’t any in depth review, so please if there is something we have to know tell to us about, do you?

Simply plenty of issues with lack of time in my day with all the other things I’m cooking on. Eurobike had lots of things, some seen then, some later. Plus IFA. That’s all. If the baby stays asleep a few hours, I’ll probably get the Direto review finished.

I just read last year’s trainer recommendation, and went over all the new trainers on the market, but I still can’t pull the trigger on which would be ideal for my multisport training studio in Coral Springs, FL.- On a budget, but definitely want quality, reliability, and durability.

Good evening, Ray. I write from Spain. I have to buy roller and I have to choose between Elite Direct or Tacx Flux. I have to put it in a room and I’m afraid of noise from the neighbors. Could you give me your opinion? Thank you and waiting for your news.

i bought the DIreto based on DC’s recommendation from clever training. c My plan is to hook it up to a 2 year old windows computer. However, i had trouble getting my etraining to download. i spoke to clever training who suggested i email the company direct and get sent a link. that turned out to be useless. clever training then sent me on to their US tech rep(rick dyer at todson’s and here is the email i received. see below but the upshot is their software is not compatible with wndows yet. this product is in the beta stage. buyer beware!

Hello,

I have contacted Elite about these issues.

It seems as if the My E-Training is currently not compatible with Windows. They are working on a fix for this, however it will take a few weeks.

Also, is your PC Bluetooth Smart ready? If not, you will need to use an ANT Dongle with that PC. The Bluetooth feature will work with Apple or Android phones and tablets.

my main plan is to use zwift, but it seems insane to me that i cant use a windows computer to download elites own software they give you a free year, so why shouldnt i check it out and see what other functionality it provides besides zwift. simple as that. perhaps coming from the dark ages of using a computrainer for the past 11 years(it died finally) got me used to using the trainer companys own software. i guess an old dog can learn new tricks, but i also needed to buy an ant- doggle to boot to get it on zwift just a but frustrating for someone who isnt technically as competent as you are, but keep up the good work

1st use was easy spinning and “investigate” all the features a smart trainer can offer. Duration approx 40min 2nd use was 8min FTP- Test. Duration approx 70min 3rd use while warm up after 12min: Suddenly unrealistic power data (1000+Watt at 60RPM), Sudden start of bumping noise. Slippery pedal-feeling (like pedaling on ice). By manually manipulating the flywheel it felt like it jumped out of its fixation. I suspect an issue of the driving belt fixation an/or flywheel bracket. Sent back to dealer. New one is on the way.

It happend when my training plan switched from very easy spinning (60-65RMP) to fast pedal (95-100RPM). Both with ~100W. For fast pedal I shiftet to an “easy” gear to make more RPM- 2 sec later the Direto passed away.

Awesome review, Ray. It helped me make the decision. Now that I have a Direto, I can’t get it to report the correct speed to my Garmin Fenix 5X. The values are roughly 230 km/h, so…not even close. Has anyone else had this problem? The unit works fine with Elite’s myETraining app and with Zwift (over ANT+). The cadence and power come up correctly on the Fenix and on my old Sigma Rox 10.0, but the speed is way off in the first case and always zero in the second.

Garmin tech support doesn’t have anything on this and I haven’t heard back from Elite yet. Thought I’d throw a hook in the water and see if anyone here has worked through this problem. (BTW, I have tried adjusting the wheel circumference values on both the Direto and the Fenix, and the reported speed remains relatively constant on the Fenix.)

Thanks, Maciej. After working with Garmin in December–including a hard reset of the Fenix 5X and losing all the setttings–I still had the problem. Now with the new Garmin firmware update on the Fenix (v7.6) the wheel size is factored in and a more reasonable speed is registering.

5 Easy Steps To The Site

You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.

It turns out I’ve written a fair bit of stuff over the past few years – and after it disappears from my front page, a lot of it never really sees the light of day again without Google’ing skillz. Or a photographic memory…which I don’t have. I’ve taken a look back and found stuff that…continues to find a trickle of readers via web searches or forum links.

I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.